DETROIT – Social media is becoming a huge part of our every day lives. It's a way for people to express themselves, follow family and friends, and track everything happening in the pop culture universe.
However, people may not realize that for hackers, your social media accounts are an ideal way to get their hands on your personal information. You may think you can set your personal security settings and let the sharing begin.
This is not the case, according to University of Phoenix, cyber security expert Dan Kozen. He says existing security precautions may actually give you a sense of false security.
"The important thing to remember here is that everything they post is publicly available," Kozen tells Help Me Hank.
While security settings allow you to set limits on who sees what, hackers don't respect those limits and are always looking for ways to get around them.
"It's simply just a screen and a cyber criminal can peek behind that screen and see all the information that somebody has posted," says Kozen.
Using Your Information Against You
Hacking your social media accounts may not hurt you immediately, but hackers can use the information you've posted against you. For example, they can find out your birthdate, where you work, your address, your email. This is all invaluable information for hackers who might be looking to steal your identity or
use that information to break into other accounts.
Even stealing one piece of information, like your email, gives hackers the opportunity to guess your password onto your social media accounts or, even worse, your bank accounts or credit cards.
Criminals also hack your social media accounts trying to unleash malware or viruses that could steal more private information from your computer. And they might even use your account to spam your friends with that same dangerous malware. You should always be wary of strange emails from friends and
social media acquaintances.
"We definitely see more and more, like my friends. sending me things that obviously aren't from them. So, that's a weekly occurrence," says Danielle Levy of Royal Oak.
What can you do to protect yourself? The bottom line is that everything you post online could be vulnerable to a hacker. That doesn't mean you cannot
enjoy social media, but remember none of the information is truly safe from an expert hacker with bad intentions.
So, other than re-thinking your posting habits entirely, what can you do? Help Me Hank found these security guidelines.
1. Make sure you have a good anti-virus protection and make sure it's up to date
2. Use more secure passwords. Mix upper and lower case letters and include numbers as well.
3. Keep your social media passwords separate from the passwords on your financial accounts
4. Beware of all those quizzes and games - it could be someone trying to gather information.
5. Be cautious of logging onto your social media accounts from public computers.
6. Limit your friends and contacts to people you truly know.